9 November 2005

9 November 2005

9 November 2005 The mother of a teenage girl who hit the headlines last year when she had a secret abortion arranged for her by her school is to act as a witness in the High Court case over whether minors should be able to undergo abortions without parental knowledge.

Melissa Smith, then 14 years old, regretted the abortion and became pregnant again six months later.

Sue Axon began her legal challenge after hearing about Melissa's case.

[This is Nottingham, 9 November ] A revised version of Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill is expected to be published tomorrow.

In reaction to laws and proposals in Britain and other countries for euthanasia and assisted suicide, a group of doctors and lawyers have released a statement condemning these practices.

The statement gives a detailed account of the moral and ethical objections to euthanasia and the danger to patients in countries where physician-assisted suicide has been legalised.

The statement warns that legalising euthanasia would damage the doctor-patient relationship, have an adverse effect on palliative care and put vulnerable patients at risk of euthanasia without their consent.

[Catholic Education ] Government plans to compile teenage pregnancy statistics by school catchment area have been attacked as unfair by a Cambridge headteacher.

Andrew Hutchinson warned that shaming schools with the highest teenage pregnancy rates would result in a culture of blame, with schools in deprived areas being scapegoated for having higher pregnancy rates.

The proposal was put forward by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. [Cambridge Evening News, 8 November ]